VWR Acquires Hichrom Limited

RADNOR, Pennsylvania, May 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- VWR (NASDAQ: VWR), a leading, global, independent provider of products, services and solutions to laboratory and production facilities, announced today that it has acquired Hichrom Limited, a leading manufacturer and distributor of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) columns and consumables. This acquisition builds upon VWR's existing chromatography systems, columns and consumables portfolio, expanding its capabilities to better support the HPLC user community across many industries.

Based in Reading, UK and founded in 1978, Hichrom sells many of the world's leading brands of HPLC and ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) columns including Ace, Partisil, Patisphere and Ultrasphere. As a manufacturer, Hichrom is well regarded in its field for its extensive knowledge and capabilities in silica bonding, silane chemistry and column packing. With its well-established distribution network, Hichrom reaches customers in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, agrochemical, food, oil and plastic industries in more than 100 countries.

"Known for its quality, excellence and technical expertise, Hichrom is an investment that will help expand our portfolio and manufacturing capabilities to a specialized and growing industry," said Peter Schuele, Senior Vice President and President, EMEA and Asia-Pacific Lab and Distribution Services. "Together with Hichrom, we are excited to deliver the tools needed to enable science in the largest product segment in the analytical instruments industry."

Financial details of this acquisition remain confidential.

About VWR

VWR (NASDAQ: VWR), headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, is a leading, global, independent provider of products, services and solutions to laboratory and production facilities. With sales in excess of $4.3 billion in 2014, VWR enables science for customers in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, industrial, education, government and healthcare industries. With more than 160 years of experience, VWR has cultivated a value proposition delivering product choice, operational excellence and differentiated services to improve our customers' productivity from research to production. VWR's differentiated services provide innovative, flexible and customized solutions from scientific research services to custom-manufactured chemical blends. Our dedicated team of more than 8,500 associates is focused on supporting scientists, medical professionals and production engineers to achieve their goals.